Our philosophy is simple: all our products combine, with charm and harmony, the active discovery of the Alentejo’s heritage and landscape with the pleasures of a good wine and local gastronomy.

Our team is special: we believe in what we do. Our guides are specialists and multi-skilled, experienced and determined, careful and thoughtful. They know how to be there for you, they’ll make you feel safe and they’ll make sure you’ll have fun, relax and enjoy.

We believe in sustainable tourism, local partners, top quality services.

We believe in tourism as a powerful source of peace, friendship and understanding between people and as a mean of sustainable local development and preservation of the natural and cultural heritage.

We feel privileged to have this job and to be able to discover and share with you the beautiful and bright side of our world.

Our mission is to share this privilege, proudly offering our guests the Alentejo with its clean air and endless landscapes of land and sea. No stress, no worries!

With this philosophy and team we organise tours, cycling holidays, walking holidays, expeditions for families and friends and outdoor events, which promote team building for company groups.
We have also written several guidebooks promoting our region, creating an important footprint of tools and information to help to a better understanding of our region.

 

MORE ABOUT US

Since 1994, we have been producing activity and travel guides to help you discover the wonders of our Alentejo region.

In 2007, we opened up our guesthouse Monte do Serrado de Baixo, a beautifully restored traditional farmhouse located in a natural paradise, and only 8 kms from the World Heritage Site of Évora.

In 2018, we open our first house rental in Évora, the charming little house Casa dos Apostolos, and in 2019 the boutique house Casa da Padaria, with 2 bedrooms.

You can expect personalized treatment and passionate guides with high knowledge of the region’s culture and heritage.

Turaventur’s events are organized complying with the measures demanded by the Tourism of Portugal in terms of health and safety. We will cater for yours and our safety at all times. Our suppliers do the same. Travel safe with us. See further information in Clean&Safe.

To keep it short, we can only say... it's been 31 years. It's a long time!

Oh, and let’s not forget! We are obsessed for excelent food! You can rely on our famous gourmet luxury picnics, the internationally awarded Alentejo wine, and the surprising world famous and awarded Mediterranean gastronomy to keep your palate happy.

The best of our company is our staff.
Come and meet them and see for yourself!

teresa vilas boas

Teresa Vilas Boas

general manager and guide

Teresa has been the soul of Turaventur and Monte do Serrado de Baixo for the last 20 years. The first adventure she recalls was trekking after her father in the mountain of Gerês, when she was 5 yo.  She has practiced several outdoor sports and loves to travel by bike. For two years, she traveled in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Laos, India, and Nepal.  She finally came back to Portugal and started our Portugal Bicycle Tours. With endless energy, she will guide a cycling tour as well as a canoeing trip or set up an original outdoor event for a company meeting.

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Pedro Vilas Boas

founder

Pedro is a nomad and has itchy feet. Traveling is his passion. He is a true adventurer and has taught us the wonders of discovering the world and going off the beaten track. Pedro has done several expeditions in Africa on a jeep, descended several rivers on a kayak, and climbed the Island Peak in the Himalayas. His wish for the 70th anniversary was to spend it climbing the Aconcagua in Argentina, and there he went! The weather was too bad so Pedro had to turn back but that is part of mountaineering and adventure and he sets new goals all the time! He is an inspiration to all of us!
He was the “father” of the off road driving in Portugal and now he moved this passion to classic cars.

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Ana Barbosa

consultant and partner

Ana is our “brain”, and the mother of the company. She is an expert on the Alentejo and the real ambassadress of our beautiful region. Ana wrote several travel guides about the region and knows every hidden church, artisan or village. She can draw the perfect tour sitting on her desk. Ana loves traveling and trekking is her favorite sport. She has trekked in Portugal, in the Himalayas, and in Peru, to mention some. Ana’s last author work was the digital book “From – Farm – to Table”. Following her advice or one of our tours, you may experience wonderful flavors straight from the producer.

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Joana Machado

back office and guide

Joana is the dream girl of any company! Office work, shopping for picnics, transfer’s driving, guiding a group, riding a bike, dealing with any last minute problem? She is there for it! She doesn’t know the phrase “it’s not possible”. You will most probably meet her at least by email. She loves history and cultural traveling and she discovered a new favorite activity when she started cycling with us! Our cooking classes are very charmingly handed by Joana. She loves cooking as well! Send an email if you want to receive our cooking book! Joana can be a challenge when you first meet her, but very soon you will discover the bear underneath the lion!!!

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Mário Pinto

guide and maintnance

Mário is super easy going, apparently shy but in reality very sociable and fun to be around.
He has an archeologist degree and you will love to visit the megalithic monuments with him.  He loves trail running competitions and is super fit. He has his own vegetable garden and loves the outdoors.
He is a great bike guide, very friendly and caring. You will meet him if you book a guided tour.
He is also in charge of all our websites, design, bike maintenance and  outdoors. So we keep him pretty busy!!!
He has just been a father!

I wonder what his son will say when he finds out daddy guides 7 day trips!!!

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Dina Carrasco

hotel manager and back office

Dina is what we call in Portuguese a “pau para toda a obra”, a “stick for all jobs”! The expression describes someone who fears no task. Dina never says “I can’t do that, don’t know how to do it”. Sometimes I ask something from her and I can feel her reaction is not the usual enthusiastic “off course”, and then I know she doesn’t know how to do it. But she will say nothing. And on the day after she comes with clever doubts, of someone who has been studying the matter. Giving up is not for her. She is also, and above all, responsible for your money! She is in charge of our houses in Évora and our farm Monte do Serrado de Baixo, where she welcomes our guests as family.

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Jorge Canhão

guide

Jorge is an independent man and so he doesn’t work with us full time. But he shows up in the office every week, so we think he loves us anyway! He keeps coming up with new ideas and suggestions and is one of those always happy persons. He guides bike tours and loves cycling, history and politics.

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Maria Verdasca

guide

Maria worked in Turaventur almost since the beginning, in 1990. She loves cycling. Maria is a true “Alentejana” (person from the Alentejo) and very proud of it. In 2020 she decided to embrace a new project in her life, after 30 years with us! But she still guides tours. You will truly appreciate being guided by her as she is super attentive, very kind and good fun.

 

Proud member of

  • Tourism of Portugal License: RNAAT. 17/2002, RNAVT 3409 and RNET 597
  • Member of APECATE (Portuguese Association of Companies Organising Congresses, Activity Tourism and Events)
  • Member of ARPT (Regional agency of touristic promotion of the Alentejo)
  • Member of NATURAL.PTa trusted brand National, and Internationally recognized as a symbol of quality and excellence and supporting the development of locally based companies, with a great focus on the biodiversity and culture of Portugal.

PUBLICATIONS

Over 15 titles that we have either authored or co-authored, including the following:

  • Viagens na Nossa Terra (Journeys in Portugal), publ. Reader’s Digest
  • Cinco Olhares (Five Views), publ. RTs do Alentejo
  • Percursos de Natureza no Norte Alentejano (Nature Excursions in the Alentejan North), publ. RT de S. Mamede
  • Guia Turístico da Planície Dourada (Tourist Guide to the Golden Plain), publ. RT da Planície Dourada
  • Passeios entre o Xisto e o Mármore (Excursions Among Schist and Marble), publ RT Évora
  • 30 Dias no Norte Alentejano – Guia de Sugestões (30 days in the Alentejan North – Suggestions for your Visit), publ. RT de S. Mamede
  • O Melhor do Alentejo (The Best of Alentejo), publ. Turismo do Alentejo
  • From Farm to Table, publ. Turismo do Alentejo

 

Turaventur has the honour to detain the Quality Seal!

We are proud holders of APECATE’s Quality Seal, which is audited and guaranteed by SGS, the world’s leading independent certification company.

APECATE’s Quality Seal guarantees high operating standards along five key dimensions:

  • Transparency and accuracy of the information we provide to our customers;
  • Feedback – in every trip we ask our clients to complete a comprehensive evaluation form that we use to improve our performance;
  • Environmental performance – we strive to minimise our environmental footprint, and whenever possible, to improve the places we visit;
  • Safety – all our team members were thoroughly trained to follow our comprehensive health and safety procedures and all our tours include at least one first-aid qualified guide; and
  • Human Resources – all our employees are regularly evaluated on both the hard and soft skill relevant for each sector .